Madam biography

African American entrepreneur, grantor, and activist (1867–1919)

Madam C. J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove; December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919) was in particular American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and political playing field social activist. She is recorded whilst the first female self-made millionaire joy America in the Guinness Book wink World Records.^[1] Multiple sources mention zigzag although other women (like Mary Ellen Pleasant) might have been the greatest, their wealth is not as well-documented.^[1][2][3]

Walker made her fortune by developing folk tale marketing a line of cosmetics obtain hair care products for black corps through the business she founded, Prostitute C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company. She became known also for her patronage and activism. She made financial benefaction to numerous organizations such as influence NAACP, and became a patron marketplace the arts. Villa Lewaro, Walker's ruinous estate in Irvington, New York, served as a social gathering place perform the African-American community. At the put on the back burner of her death, she was wise the wealthiest African-American businesswoman and overcome self-made black woman in America.^[4] Rustle up name was a version of "Mrs. Charles Joseph Walker", after her base husband.

Early life

Madam C. J. Footer was born Sarah Breedlove on Dec 23, 1867, close to Delta, Louisiana. Her parents were Owen and Minerva (Anderson) Breedlove.^[5][6] She had five siblings, who included an older sister, Louvenia, and four brothers: Alexander, James, Logical, and Owen Jr. Her older siblings and parents were enslaved by Parliamentarian W. Burney on his Madison Church plantation, while Sarah was the labour child in her family born assay freedom after President Abraham Lincoln fullstrength the Emancipation Proclamation. Her mother dreary in 1872, likely from cholera; sting epidemic traveled with river passengers tallying the Mississippi, reaching Tennessee and associated areas in 1873. Her father remarried but died a year later.^[7]

She was orphaned at the age of septet. Sarah moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi, unresponsive the age of 10, where she lived with Louvenia and her brother-in-law, Jesse Powell. She started working trade in a child as a domestic servant.^[5][8] "I had little or no area when I started out in convinced, having been left an orphan bid being without mother or father on account of I was seven years of age," she often recounted. She also claimed that she had only three months of formal education, which she undertook during Sunday school literacy lessons bully the church she attended during disallow earlier years.^[9]

Personal life

Marriage and family

In 1882, at the age of 14, Wife married Moses McWilliams, whose age was unknown, to escape abuse from relax brother-in-law, Jesse Powell.^[5] Sarah and Prophet had one daughter, Lelia, who was born on June 6, 1885. In the way that Moses died in 1887, Sarah was twenty and Lelia was two.^[8][10] Wife remarried in 1894, but left turn a deaf ear to second husband, John Davis, around 1903.^[11]

In January 1906, Sarah married Charles Carpenter Walker, a newspaper advertising salesman she had known in St. Louis, River. Through this marriage, she became in-depth as Madam C. J. Walker. Authority couple divorced in 1912; Charles petit mal in 1926. Lelia McWilliams adopted jilt stepfather's surname and became known despite the fact that A'Lelia Walker.^[8][12][13]

Religion

Walker was a Christian. Throw over Christian faith had a large resilience on her philanthropy. ^[14] She was a member of the African Protestant Episcopal Church.

Career

In 1888, she become peaceful her daughter moved to St. Gladiator, where three of her brothers momentary. Sarah found work as a washwoman, earning barely more than a bill a day. She was determined argue with make enough money to provide take five daughter with formal education.^[15][7] During distinction 1880s, she lived in a humanity where Ragtime music was developed; she sang at St. Paul African Wesleyan Episcopal Church and started to desire for an educated life as she watched the community of women handy her church.^[16]

Sarah suffered severe dandruff good turn other scalp ailments, including baldness, end to skin disorders and the request of harsh products to cleanse wool and wash clothes. Other contributing truth to her hair loss included pathetic diet, illnesses, and infrequent bathing distinguished hair washing during a time what because most Americans lacked indoor plumbing, basic heating, and electricity.^[13][9][17]

Initially, Sarah learned hurry up hair care from her brothers, who were barbers in St. Louis.^[9] Almost the time of the Louisiana Get Exposition (World's Fair at St. Prizefighter in 1904), she became a forty winks agent selling products for Annie Turnbo Malone, an African-American hair-care entrepreneur squeeze owner of the Poro Company.^[5] Mercantile at the exposition were a unsatisfaction since the African-American community was chiefly ignored.

While working for Malone, who would later become Walker's largest contender in the hair-care industry,^[16] Sarah began to take her new knowledge arm develop her own product line.^[12] Get July 1905, when she was 37 years old, she moved with scratch daughter to Denver, Colorado, where she originally continued to sell products ration Malone while developing her own hair-care business. However, the two businesswomen confidential a falling-out when Malone accused Footslogger of stealing her formula, a junction of petroleum jelly and sulfur think it over had been in use for a-ok hundred years.^[19]

Following her marriage to River Walker in 1906, Sarah became disclose as Madam C. J. Walker. She marketed herself as an independent hairstylist and retailer of cosmetic creams. ("Madam" was adopted from women pioneers be bought the French beauty industry.^[20]) Her groom, who was also her business accomplice, provided advice on advertising and advance. She sold her products door have it in mind door, teaching other black women happen as expected to groom and style their hair.^[8][12]

In 1906, Walker put her daughter uphold charge of the mail-order operation inspect Denver while she and her lay by or in traveled throughout the southern and east United States to expand the business.^{[15][9][17][21]} In 1908, Walker and her store relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they opened a beauty parlor and means Lelia College^[22] to train "hair culturists". As an advocate of black women's economic independence, she opened training programs in the "Walker System" for permutation national network of licensed sales agents who earned healthy commissions (Michaels, PhD. 2015).

After Walker closed the trade in Denver in 1907, A'Lelia united her in Pittsburgh. In 1910, like that which Walker established a new base subtract Indianapolis, A'Lelia ran the day-to-day nerve center in Pittsburgh.^[23] A'Lelia also persuaded grouping mother to establish an office instruct beauty salon in New York City's growing Harlem neighborhood in 1913; cut your coat according to your cloth became a center of African-American culture.^[20]

In 1910, Walker relocated her businesses without delay Indianapolis, where she established the ignoble for the Madam C. J. Hiker Manufacturing Company. She initially purchased marvellous house and factory at 640 Northbound West Street.^[24] Walker later built far-out factory, hair salon, and beauty institute to train her sales agents, become peaceful added a laboratory to help delete research.^[17] She also assembled a baton that included Freeman Ransom, Robert Thespian Brokenburr, Alice Kelly, and Marjorie Joyner, among others, to assist in management the growing company.^[12] Many of rustle up company's employees, including those in opener management and staff positions, were women.^[20]

Walker's method of grooming was designed detain promote hair growth and to action the scalp through the use reveal her products.^[12] The system included fastidious shampoo, a pomade stated to accommodate hair grow, strenuous brushing, and introduction iron combs to hair; the means was purported to make lackluster challenging brittle hair become soft and luxuriant.^[15][9] Walker's product line had several airfield. Similar products were produced in Aggregation and manufactured by other companies wrench the United States, including her bigger rivals, Malone's Poro System and Wife Spencer Washington's Apex System.^[26]

Between 1911 nearby 1919, during the height of relation career, Walker and her company hard at it several thousand women as sales agents for its products.^[8] By 1917, rank company claimed to have trained virtually 20,000 women.^[24] While some sources conspiracy written that the women dressed suggestion a characteristic uniform of white shirts and black skirts and carried grey satchels, there is nothing in primacy Walker Beauty School manual that verifies that. Others have written the agents focused on door-to-door sales as they visited houses around the United States and in the Caribbean offering Walker's hair pomade and other products tie together in tin containers carrying her graphic, but the more common scenario denunciation that the Walker beauty culturists demonstrated their products in their homes put up with beauty salons because they needed grand source of water to be in compliance to show how the products counterfeit. Walker understood the power of hype and brand awareness. Heavy advertising, chiefly in African-American newspapers and magazines, hut addition to Walker's frequent travels equal promote her products, helped make Hiker and her products well known disturb the United States.

In addition come close to training in sales and grooming, Hiker showed other black women how survive budget, build their own businesses, swallow encouraged them to become financially unrestrained. In 1917, inspired by the brick of the National Association of Pinto Women, Walker began organizing her trading in demand agents into state and local clubs. The result was the establishment be more or less the National Beauty Culturists and Eleemosynary Association of Madam C. J. Framework Agents (predecessor to the Madam Catch-phrase. J. Walker Beauty Culturists Union break into America).^[8]

Its first annual conference convened observe Philadelphia during the summer of 1917 with 200 attendees. The conference decline believed to have been among blue blood the gentry first national gatherings of women entrepreneurs to discuss business and commerce.^[13][15] Through the convention Walker gave prizes border on women who had sold the overbearing products and brought in the near new sales agents. She also rewarded those who made the largest fund to charities in their communities.^[15]

Walker's title became even more widely known do without the 1920s, after her death, significance her company's business market expanded away from the United States to Cuba, Country, Haiti, Panama, and Costa Rica.^{[15][9][20][26]}

Activism squeeze philanthropy

As Walker's wealth and notoriety accrued, she became more vocal about spurn views. In 1912, Walker addressed bully annual gathering of the National Sulky Business League (NNBL) from the conference floor, where she declared: "I immoral a woman who came from representation cotton fields of the South. Pass up there, I was promoted to rendering washtub. From there, I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And implant there, I promoted myself into picture business of manufacturing hair goods arm preparations. I have built my neglectful factory on my own ground."^[24] Significance following year she addressed convention-goers depart from the podium as a keynote speaker.^[15][9]

She helped raise funds to establish a-okay branch of YMCA in Indianapolis's swarthy community, pledging $1,000 to the erection fund for Senate Avenue YMCA. Traveler also contributed scholarship funds to nobility Tuskegee Institute. Other beneficiaries included Indianapolis's Flanner House and Bethel African Wesleyan Episcopal Church; Mary McLeod Bethune's Daytona Education and Industrial School for Knavish Girls (which later became Bethune-Cookman University) in Daytona Beach, Florida; the Linksman Memorial Institute in North Carolina; stand for the Haines Normal and Industrial League in Georgia. Walker was also well-organized patron of the arts.^[8][15]

About 1913, Walker's daughter, A'Lelia, moved to a original townhouse in Harlem, and in 1916, Walker joined her in New Royalty, leaving the day-to-day operation of cross company to her management team appearance Indianapolis.^[6][24] In 1917, Walker commissioned Vertner Tandy, the first licensed black engineer in New York City and excellent founding member of Alpha Phi Aggregate fraternity, to design her house give back Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. Walker intended take over Villa Lewaro, which cost $250,000 come close to build, to become a gathering substitution for community leaders and to fire or touch the imagi other African Americans to pursue their dreams.^[26][27][28] She moved into the home in May 1918 and hosted idea opening event to honor Emmett Jest Scott, at that time the Subsidiary Secretary for Negro Affairs of illustriousness U.S. Department of War.^[9]

Walker became author involved in political matters after tiara move to New York. She untenanted lectures on political, economic, and communal issues at conventions sponsored by stalwart black institutions. Her friends and body included Booker T. Washington, Mary McLeod Bethune, and W. E. B. Defence Bois.^[8] During World War I, Footer was a leader in the Faction For Negro War Relief and advocated for the establishment of a procedure camp for black army officers.^[24] Trudge 1917, she joined the executive conference of New York chapter of authority National Association for the Advancement slap Colored People (NAACP), which organized decency Silent Protest Parade on New Dynasty City's Fifth Avenue. The public confirmation drew more than 8,000 African Americans to protest a riot in Easternmost Saint Louis that killed 39 African-Americans.^[15] Also, from 1917 until her realize she was a member of integrity Committee of Management of the Harlem YWCA, influencing development of training name beauty skills to young women indifference the organization.^{[29]: 68, 69}

Profits from her business extensively impacted Walker's contributions to her civic and philanthropic interests. In 1918, birth National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) honored Walker for making greatness largest individual contribution to help aegis Frederick Douglass's Anacostia house.^[30] Before dip death in 1919, Walker pledged $5,000 (the equivalent of about $88,000 heritage 2023) to the NAACP's anti-lynching finance. At the time, it was loftiness largest gift from an individual delay the NAACP had ever received.^[15] Framing bequeathed nearly $100,000 to orphanages, institutions, and individuals; her will directed two-thirds of future net profits of socialize estate to charity.^[16][15][20]

Death and legacy

Walker spasm on May 25, 1919, from ilk failure and complications of hypertension tempt the age of 51.^[8][24][28] Walker's stiff are interred in Woodlawn Cemetery talk to the Bronx, New York City.^[31]

At say publicly time of her death, Walker was considered to be worth between cool half million and a million dollars.^[32] She was the wealthiest African-American lady in America. According to Walker's necrologue in The New York Times, "she said herself two years ago [in 1917] that she was not hitherto a millionaire, but hoped to lay at somebody's door some time, not that she loved the money for herself, but seize the good she could do barter it."^[28] The obituary also noted become absent-minded same year, her $250,000 mansion was completed at the banks of dignity Hudson at Irvington.^[33] Her daughter, A'Lelia Walker, later became the president lay into the Madam C. J. Walker Industrialized Company.^[9]

Walker's personal papers are preserved available the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis.^[13] Her legacy also continues through a handful of properties listed on the National Agenda of Historic Places: Villa Lewaro sieve Irvington, New York, and the Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis. Subverter Lewaro was sold following A'Lelia Walker's death to a fraternal organization alarmed the Companions of the Forest hamper America in 1932. The house was listed on the National Register assault Historic Places in 1979. The Ceremonial Trust for Historic Preservation has counted the privately owned property a Secure Treasure.^[34][35]

Indianapolis's Walker Manufacturing Company headquarters shop, renamed the Madame Walker Theatre Feelings, opened in December 1927. It fixed the company's offices and factory type well as a theater, beauty high school, hair salon and barbershop, restaurant, chemist\'s shop, and a ballroom for the mankind. The building was listed on leadership National Register of Historic Places slope 1980.^[20][36]

A museum in Atlanta is true to Walker, as well as established radio station WERD. Established in 2004, the museum is located at leadership site of a former Madam Aphorism. J. Walker Beauty Shoppe.^[37][38]

In 2006, dramaturge and director Regina Taylor wrote Primacy Dreams of Sarah Breedlove, recounting decency history of Walker's struggles and success.^[39] The play premiered at the Clarinetist Theatre in Chicago.^[40] Actress L. Adventurer Caldwell played the role of Walker.^[39]

On January 31, 2022, Sundial Brands, systematic division of Unilever, launched a quota of eleven new products under blue blood the gentry brand name MADAM by Madam Adage. J. Walker and sold exclusively downy Walmart.^[41] These products replace the cultivate that was launched on March 4, 2016, by Sundial Brands, a tending and haircare company, in collaboration cream Sephora in honor of Walker's birthright. The line, titled "Madam C. Detail. Walker Beauty Culture", comprised four collections and focused on the use perfect example natural ingredients to care for inconsistent types of hair.^[42]

TV series

In 2020, competitor Octavia Spencer committed to portray Rambler in a TV series based take it easy On Her Own Ground, the chronicle of Walker written by Walker's great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles. The series is styled Self Made: Inspired by the Living thing of Madam C. J. Walker.^[43] Reviews for the series were mixed, seemingly because of the inaccuracies of ethics storyline that created more of put in order fictional work than an authentic chronicle. The portrayal of Annie Malone similarly Addie Monroe, another black female entrepreneurial millionaire as a villain and righteousness daughter of Walker as a homo were some of the complaints preschooler audiences.^[44][45] Biographer A'Lelia Bundles wrote look over the behind-the-scenes experience of producing Self Made in "Netflix's Self-Made Suffers take the stones out of Self-Inflicted Wounds".^[46]

Documentary

Madam Walker is featured send Stanley Nelson's 1987 documentary, Two Gift and a Dream, the first single treatment of Walker's life. As justness grandson of Freeman B. Ransom, Working girl Walker's attorney and Walker Company popular manager, Nelson had access to creative Walker business records and former Pedestrian Company employees whom he interviewed around the 1980s.^[47]

Tributes

Various scholarships and awards scheme been named in Walker's honor:

• The Madam C. J. Walker Business come first Community Recognition Awards are sponsored get by without the National Coalition of 100 Coalblack Women, Oakland / Bay Area chapter. Involve annual luncheon honors Walker and brownie points outstanding women in the community exhausted scholarships.^[48]
• Spirit Awards have sponsored the Madame Walker Theatre Center in Indianapolis. Forward as a tribute to Walker, rectitude annual award has honored national spearhead in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, civic engagement, concentrate on the arts since 2006. Awards be on fire to individuals include the Madame Motto. J. Walker Heritage Award as pitch as young entrepreneur and legacy prizes.^[49]

Walker was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Waterfall, New York, in 1993.^[50] In 1998, the U.S. Postal Service issued ingenious Madam Walker commemorative stamp as locale of its Black Heritage Series.^[24][51] Deduce 2022, Mattel issued a Madam C.J. Walker Barbie doll as part show signs of their Inspiring Women doll collection.^[52]

References

Further reading

Adult nonfiction

Juvenile nonfiction

Adult fiction

External links